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Let’s Start This Over

By The New York Times January 7, 2007 11:21 pmJanuary 7, 2007 11:21 pm

Subaru’s spokesman Michael McHale made it through the minefield of correctly pronouncing all the names of his company’s Japanese executives and guests at the company’s reveal of the redesigned 2008 Outback and Legacy, then handed off with a sigh of relief to Tom Doll, North American executive vice president.

Doll took a deep breath, began speaking and then grew fainter and fainter, as the double clip-on microphone slid down his tie and deep into his suit coat. Large video monitors showed a black-clad show assistant — an audio ninja? — rushing forward and manhandling Doll’s four-in-hand as his lips moved and no sound came out. A disastrous loss of face? Mic back in place, Doll seemed to think for a moment about pretending nothing had happened, but then rejected it.

“Let’s re-start the thing!” he boomed, with a goofy grin, drawing the most honest round of applause at Sunday’s auto show.

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